First State to Defy the Federal Government, Virginia Nullifies NDAA

As reported in the previous article Who are the 399 and Why Should You Care?, the Virginia legislature in February had passed a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) nullification bill in the initial version of HB1160 by both the House and Senate. However it was not without controversy. Originally the House had voted an overwhelming 96-4 in favor of nullifying the controversial and almost universally agreed as unconstitutional NDAA. If you’re like half of American which has yet to hear about NDAA, it is a law which gives the President sweeping power to detain American citizens deemed as substantial supporters or associated forces of terrorists. That’s not the problematic part. I don’t think anyone wants to see proven national threats running around loose. However this law allows for the apprehension of American citizens to be executed without due process, no charges, no phone call, no day in court and for as long as the government wants without ever having to explain to the media, your mom, your spouse or your kids why you’ve been held in Guantanamo for the last 50 years. Virginia was the first state to move quickly against this new law violating a laundry list of Constitutional rights. In the wake of a landslide approval of HB1160 by the Virginia House the initial Senate vote was a tie but within days thousands upon thousands of Virginians, private citizens and grassroots activists alike inundated the Capital with phone calls and letters. One Virginian I know said that he and many other’s had put their state senators on speed dial! The effort paid off with the next Senate vote yielding 39-1 in favor of the bill.

“A BILL to prevent any agency, political subdivision, employee, or member of the military of Virginia from assisting an agency of the armed forces of the United States in the detention of a citizen in violation of the United States Constitution, the Constitution of Virginia, or any Virginia law or regulation.”

It is a brief but impressive piece of state legislation. It doesn’t just call into question the unconstitutionality of NDAA it flat out says we know it is and we are having none of that!

The last stumbling block to the Virginia nullification of NDAA was Governor Bob McDonnell. For weeks speculation swirled that he would refuse to sign the bill into law. However the people continued to hound the Governor’s office, many petitions were signed and presented and he eventually capitulated with one caveat. He insisted on the addition of an amendment which added the word “knowingly” with respect to the participation of Virginia state, local law enforcement, Virginia National Guard or Virginia Defense Forces cooperating in any way with federal law enforcement for the sole purpose of carrying out the capture and detention of an American citizen under NDAA. This of course will invariably open up loopholes which did not exist without that language being inserted. Regardless this must be viewed as a very huge win for both constitutional and states rights. HB 1160 now becomes law on July 1st automatically. The bill having been passed with amendments recommended by the Governor no longer requires his signature.

Virginia is no isolated incident. This is the beginning of not only a collective awakening but actual movement. I hear so many people say that we could never nullify the Federal Reserve, the banking debt that tax payers are on the hook for or like Iceland did, wipe out part of it’s country’s mortgage debt and toss the leveraged debt fraud bankers in jail. People say that because this is America and we are too complacent, too stupid and too lazy to do anything but continue to accept the decisions of the government and corporations that nothing will change. Well I’m here to tell you that this is not true. There are some not so dull and listless folks around. There are many people who no longer sit day after day staring at their glowing flat screens while propaganda is piped into half the rooms in their homes. They have turned off the main stream media brain drain and decided they’re no longer going to allow the continued dismantling of the country nor the Constitution. They’ve grown tired of the stomp of Vibram soled boots on not only individual freedom but our personal property rights too. NDAA is where we have decided to draw the line in the sand. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! WE ARE ALREADY!

This law however is NOT strong enough in my opinion. It should have included not allowing the Military or any Federal agencies within state borders to carry out such gross disregard for constitutional rights. It’s pretty weak on that point. The Virginia law practically lays down and says “Come on in boys but we ain’t a gonna help you while you’re dragging John Smith to Guantanamo”. We need to work a LOT HARDER than this! We will not be fooled by this and believe that we have somehow completely restored the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments of the Constitution with this Virginia state law. We need laws to be passed which cover ALL of the BASES not just a hand picked this or that to placate the masses. We’re not that stupid. We want all our rights back thank you very much!

Don’t see your state listed? START CALLING YOUR REPRESENTATIVES and give them the this legislative pack from the Tenth Amendment Center to get them started on NDAA nullification in your state. It’s only your life and your freedom at stake right? Make sure they cover everything and not just enough to make the people settle down, be quiet and go back to watching reality TV.

We can move mountains clearing away decades of useless, harmful, stifling and thieving Federal legislation through the nullification process.

Learn more about nullification.

Tom Woods, Ph.D. speaks to the members of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons at their 67th Annual Meeting on September 17, 2010 in Salt Lake City.

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20 thoughts on “First State to Defy the Federal Government, Virginia Nullifies NDAA”

I couldn’t agree more, Kristie, and other states ARE considering legislation that would INTERPOSE state officials between the Feds and their citizens to actively prevent the FedGov from trying any shenanigans in their state.

“So, you want to drag John Smith to Gitmo? (sound of weapons racking rounds into their chambers) Oh, reeeally?”

Finally, a glimmer of hope among the hordes of zombies. Don’t expect CNN or the rest of the media to report this. Kudos you to, K. Bruce, for being a real journalist by covering this major story. This is perhaps the single most important event so for in 2012, and Obama knows it…even if some other knuckleheads (see below) don’t.

exactly lenny, i’m sure our dear atty. general got a big notch in his belt, bought his upcoming campaign for Gov. how lucky we are! we have a mfdickhater and woman hater running for the upcoming election.
this is obviously is libertarian.
where was all of this constitution talk when bush and cheney were taking it apart.
do we remember who created gitmo? how about abu grabe? white house lawyers trying to change the law, to after the fact, to make it ok to torture, warrant less, wire tapping, suspension of habeas corpus, it goes on and on.
sure i’m against everything just mentioned. however, the push seems to be that the present administration is to blame and these “wonderfully conservative” states are our salvation.
quite the contrary, their republican held legislatures are divisive and repressive and if we are to survive as a nation, this has to stop. stop the hatred; stop the lies;stop the hyperbole.

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